THE COHEN GROUP
  Environmental Health & Safety Consulting Services

The Cohen Group Newsletter - Volume 19  Issue 1, Article 4.  January 2008

  Federal OSHA Draft Standard on Construction Confined Spaces
By Tim Bormann, CIH

Federal OSHA has published a draft standard to protect employees from the hazards resulting from exposure to confined spaces in the construction industry.  The agency is accepting public comments on the proposed standard until January 28, 2008. 

Cal/OSHA currently has a standard that covers confined spaces in the construction industry (Title 8, California Code of Regulations, § 5158 – Other Confined Spaces Operations).  When and if the federal standard takes effect, the California standard would have to be amended for state equivalency. 

The scope of the proposed federal standard is for employers engaged in confined space work at the job site.  The proposed standard does not apply to construction work regulated by OSHA Subpart Y (diving), non-sewer work regulated by Subpart P (excavations) and non-sewer work regulated by OSHA Subpart S (underground work).  The Cal/OSHA standard § 5158 applies to construction activities which may include excavations, while the new proposed federal standard specifically exclude excavations.

The proposed standard addresses construction-specific issues and establishes a step-by-step process to assess hazards, determine the classification for the space according to the physical and atmospheric hazards and how to safely enter and work in the space.  It requires that the employer (contractor) make a determination if there are confined spaces on the job site and if these confined spaces contain any hazards to which employees may be exposed if they enter.  It would require controlling contractors to coordinate confined space operations among a site’s multiple employers.

Confined spaces with hazards would be classified into one of four categories.  Each category has its own protection requirements to control the different hazards.  Permit-required spaces have an explicit requirement for an entry supervisor to monitor conditions during entry, with an early warning requirement for upstream hazards in sewer-type spaces.

Currently, the Cal/OSHA standard § 5158 has no requirements for classifying confined space hazards (Note that the general industry confined space standard however does have such a requirement).  Characteristics of the four categories of confined spaces listed in the proposed federal OSHA standard are as follows:

Continuous-System Permit-Required Confined Space (CS-PRCS) is characterized as a permit-required confined space that is 1) part of and continuous with a larger confined space (i.e., sewers); 2) cannot be isolated from the larger confined space; and 3) subject to a potential release from a the larger confined space that would overwhelm hazard controls resulting in a hazard that is immediately dangerous to life or health.

Controlled-Atmosphere Confined Space (CACS) is characterized a confined space that 1) contains no physical hazards or isolated hazards and 2) uses ventilation alone to control atmospheric hazards.

Isolated-Hazard Confined Space (IHCS) is a confined space in which all physical and atmospheric hazards have been isolated.

Permit-Required Confined Space (PRCS) is characterized as having any one of the following characteristics; 1) a hazardous atmosphere, 2) inwardly converging, sloping or tapering surface that could trap or asphyxiate an employee and 3) an engulfment or other physical hazard.

The characteristics of the proposed PRCS are very similar to the Cal/OSHA general industry definition, except the Cal/OSHA standard also includes “other recognized serious safety or health hazard”.

This is a brief overview of some of the highlights of the proposed federal standard. We anticipate that there may be a great amount of confusion about the terms used in the proposed standard.  We will follow the modifications to the proposed standard and what effect it may ultimately have on Cal/OSHA standards.